MORE promising youngsters will be able to get the best education money can buy thanks the to the generosity of a North West multi millionaire.

Entrepreneur Peter Ogden has announced that he is extending his scheme to pay for bright children from poorer homes to go to independent schools.

Now a number of gifted children whose parents are unable to afford a private school will be given the chance to attend Bolton School Boys Division and Bury Grammar School free of charge.

Former Rochdale Grammar pupil Mr Ogden will foot the bill for two youngsters per year to attend Bolton School and two boys and two girls to attend Bury Grammar until they have finished their A levels.

It costs more than £5,000 per year to educate just one boy at Bolton School but Mr Ogden put £25 million into his educational trust after amassing a personal fortune from the sale of his computer company.

He hopes a top class education will provide the youngsters with a springboard to success but just to make sure, the Trust will follow it up with other support such as high flying mentors.

Bolton School Girls' Division were at the top of the queue for bursaries when Mr Ogden first launched the national scheme last year.

Now the success of the ten pilot schemes has prompted the computer millionaire to extend the bursaries to a further 16 schools, including the three locally.

Bolton School Boys Division headteacher Mr Alan Wright is delighted his school has been chosen for the project and believes it will help plug the gap left by the government funded assisted places scheme which was scrapped after the last election. Since the scheme was dropped the number of non-fee paying boys at Bolton School has dropped from 38 to 15 per year.

The two extra bursaries will help the Boy's Division towards their eventual target of being able to provide 20 free places for bright pupils from poorer backgrounds.

Mr Wright said: "It is wonderful news and will be a further addition to what we have been trying to do on our own over the past three years.

"One of the nice things about the scheme is that the Trust takes an interest in their pupils and provides guidance and advice at key points in their life."

But he said the school would also benefit because scrapping assisted places was not only a loss to the pupils who could have benefited.

He said: "They added to the rich tapestry of the school. The school misses out, not only in terms of talent, but because they came from all aspects of Bolton society and gave us a truly comprehensive school in social terms."

Ogden Trust Director Tim Simmons said: "Our final choice is not just based on academic record, although all these schools achieve excellent results, but on how needy the local catchment area is, and how committed the schools are to admitting or keeping open their access to bright children whose parents cannot afford the fees.

"The list is a strong one, and all these schools will offer tremendous opportunities to the holders of the Ogden Bursaries."